They call this "ruining your childhood," although I can't understand why adding an erotic component to a cartoon character ruins anything.
(All pictures courtesy of the original artists.)
1. A grown-up Bam Bam from The Flintstones
2. Child genius Dexter from Dexter's Lab grow into an adult science nerd, being whipped by his nemesis Mandark.
3. Bender prepping Fry from Futurama.
4. Max Goof aroused at the beach. He never said "Hyuck." That was his father Goofy.
5. Mordecai and Rigby from Regular Show
Mostly it's because of the whole aspect of childhood. Though animators do add things themselves because they're bored. Seriously, watch any cartoon as an adult. But certain ones more than others. The original Nicktoons had more than a few sex references. Anywho...
ReplyDelete2 I never thought Dexter porn would be a thing.
3 Robot porn falls into that category of "things I know exist, but can't decide if I want to know why".
5 is interesting, I would've pictured Mordecai as circumcised. Mostly going off of the name. Granted, it's not anatomically correct avian genitalia either way...
(As an aside, is it weird we keep thinking of Generation X as hip?)
6 Most people know Velma, but Fred was also suspected of being gay, which is why Daphne is sexually frustrated. (Live-action Scooby gives us more beefcake but less gay vague.) Meh, my favorite Scooby theory is that ghosts and other supernatural creatures are real; if they weren't, the whole "dress as a ghost to scare people away" plan would be very foolish. There's also a creepypasta which is just another version of the "Ash in a coma" creepypasta. But my favorite cartoon creepypasta is the Ed, Edd, and Eddy "the cul de sac is purgatory" one.
8 is interesting. Moose has become somewhat of a gay icon, not as much as Bighead used to be, but still...Riverdale has him hooking up with Kevin when they discover Jason's body.
9 Yes, Elmer, who has been paired with Bugs in canon. And remember, it's Elmer mourning Bugs at the end of "What's Opera, Doc?"
*Jughead. Not the frog things from Rocko's Modern Life. Though I'm convinced one minor character on a Rocko is trans.
DeleteWe generally find gay subtexts in children's cartoons through domestic pairings, not through sexual references. Rocky and Bullwinkle, Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, and so on share living quarters without women around, so they can be read as a gay couple. There are a lot of cartoon readings of that sort on "Boomer's Beefcake and Bonding"
ReplyDeleteTrue. These days, though, it goes both ways. (Sea watt eye did there?) There are also polygamy and even invest theories.
DeleteI couldn't help but spin off into my favorite theories about cartoons, though. A LOT of these theories are depressing.
Boomer, can you read the text on the Scooby cartoon? When I enlarge to try to read it, it just blurs out. I'd say I'm just curious, but everyone knows I have a dirty mind and want to know what filthy things they're saying...
ReplyDeleteSuperboy is also usually paired with Robin #3. That seems to be a Rule 63 (gender flip) of Supergirl. Or, you know, Matrix, since there was an embargo on bringing back the original Supergirl post-Crisis. (Simplifying the timeline o hai Hawkman.)
ReplyDeleteThe Robins, at least Dick and Tim, have their own stories. What's interesting about Dick is, if you like him with Starfire, then you'll like him with Speedy, Flash #3, or Jericho. If you like him with Oracle, out come the guys 20 years older than him. The first group tends to imagine Dick compartmentalizing his relationships, the second opts for threesomes.
Tim's romantic history is generally more agreed on: He crushed on Dick and Robin (and of course figured out they were the same guy) for years, but that ended as they eased into a more fraternal relationship. He had a girlfriend, but she was nearly raped by another guy and only wanted him to somehow erase those memories. But his better-known girlfriend is Stephanie Brown, the fourth Robin, with half the fan base thinking they're perfect together, half seeing her as an abusive harpy, and half seeing no problem With. Tim being no and liking both Steph and Kon. With the start of Young Justice, we were introduced to Kon-El, Superboy. He and Tim often act as time-traveling Flash #4's parents. (And Superboy's biological parents are both men!) Writers like to tease them as much as DC will allow. (Really? I thought Didio hated all Robins?) When Superboy-Prime (Superman from our world, but because our world was destroyed, he embarks on a campaign of multiversal genocide) kills Kon, this after Tim's father and Steph die, he slips into a deep depression. (Welcome to being Robin.)